T.T. Escurel once said, “Don’t blame the hunter if you aren’t paying attention enough to spot the traps.” As Christians, are we able to spot the traps the devil has set for us in our lives? In the garden, Eve tried this as she blamed Satan for her disobedience by ignoring the devils trap. In 1 Timothy 3:7 the Bible speaks these words concerning Elders, but I believe it should be a reminder to all of us of the schemes of the devil. “And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” (NASB)
A snare is a trap that is set to catch a number of different animals. You can find a wide variety of these traps at www.snareshop.com. This site provides information on exactly what kind of snare and materials to use based on the animal you are trying to immobilize.
So what is a devils snare? If you are a Harry Potter fan, you know of a magical plant called the devils snare. This plant had the ability to constrict or strangle anything that comes into contact with it. Struggling against it only caused more constriction.
If you are a horticulturalist the devils snare is a plant native to the Amazon, although it has spread to other regions of the globe. This plant causes dizziness, hallucinations and even death if ingested.
However, the devils snare I want to discuss is in 1 Timothy 3:7 and plainly, it is sin. We choose to give in to the temptation to sin, and we become trapped. We have to remember, the devil cannot make us sin. James 1:14 says “But people are tempted when their own evil desire leads them away and traps them.” (NCV) The problem is we fail to identify the assuming trap. So why does this happen?
If you want to trap an unsuspecting victim, the snare must be set in a favorable location. Men, we must be careful of comfortable locations. Places you and I may frequent many times a day. Possibly, behind our computer screen, in front of the television, the office, restaurants, coffee shops, magazines, books, the gym and well, you probably can add to this list. These locales are where you and I can become vulnerable to an unsuspected situation that we may encounter.
We must avoid walking into possible traps. Going to lunch with a woman who is not your wife is a poor choice to make. The lack of accountability in surfing the web is another instance. On one of his radio broadcasts, James McDonald, shared how his staff holds each other accountable as they track each others web surfing. It simply comes down to this, spending time in a place you should not be at, possibly with someone you should not be spending time with, can ultimately become one of the devils traps.
This leads us to the realization that we must contain our sinful nature by putting it to death. We accomplish this by living for the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 “So I tell you: Live by following the Spirit. Then you will not do what your sinful self wants.” (NCV) We can make this so difficult. However, we must do what is right in God’s sight, not the things we desire to do.
What happens if the snare inevitably traps us? We can only blame ourselves. The beginning of 1 Corinthians 10:13 says “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.” (NIV) The devil has not created anything new. We are tempted and give into the sin by not following God. The good news is in the last part of verse 13, “He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. ” (NIV)
Jesus set the example of the escape. He quoted from the word of God. Three times in Matthew 4 the devil tempted Jesus, and all three times Jesus answered from the word of God. We need to recall the word of God when we are tempted to do wrong. We can only do this by continually studying, meditating on and obeying the scriptures.
In addition, if we fail to identify the trap and we fall into it, The Holy Spirit will convict us of our wrong doing. We cannot ignore the power of God within us. At that moment, when the Holy Spirit reveals the transgression, we must repent of our sin and allow the word of God to set us free.. We must watch ourselves so we do not fail to identify the Spirits tug on our heart.
Next, if you catch somebody else in a sin, and that person does not see the snare that has hold of them, Galatians 6:1 has the remedy. “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” (NIV) We play a part in restoring a sinful brother when they are caught in a snare. An example is the prophet Nathan, who had to reveal the snare trapping King David. In 2 Samuel 11, Nathan had to reveal the sin, which David had been trying to cover up. David had sinned by trying to hide the fact that he had impregnated Bathsheba, the wife of Urriah, who David eventually sent into battle securing Urriah’s death.
In summary, first Jesus modeled quoting scripture to avoid the snare. Second, the Holy Spirit will convict us when we have stumbled into a snare. Third, if we ignore the nudge of the Spirit, a brother might be the one to expose the snare. And lastly, we have to keep this in mind, the devil would like us to ignore the snare, thus rendering us useless in the Kingdom of God.
It all comes down to this one thought. We make a choice to either live by the Truth in the word of God, or willingly allow ourselves to be tempted into the snare of the devil. Which choice will we make? Truth or snare.
Psalm 1:1-3. “Happy are those who don’t listen to the wicked, who don’t go where sinners go, who don’t do what evil people do. They love the Lord’s teachings, and they think about those teachings day and night. They are strong, like a tree planted by a river. The tree produces fruit in season, and its leaves don’t die. Everything they do will succeed.” (NCV)